Crystal
by musashihazmat84
Summary: How the faces of love have changed, turning the pages; can James save Jesse before it's too late?


2013 update: Fixed all formatting issues leftover from whatever this site did in like, 2004 which screwed up every story I had here.

*A/N* I wrote this in 2000, and as I typed it I re-wrote it in 2003, so bear with me if it's not as good as some of my other stuff :). If anything it should be AS good as the first two stories of the Rose Series, which it's NOT a part of. It was written around the same time, that's all. Also, I haven't watched Pokemon since like...Johto series (right? Whatever was after Orange Islands)...so if it's out of cannon by now, which I'm sure it is, toooooo bad.

**Crystal**

By Musashihazmat84

Jesse situated herself on a flat rock near an old house foundation. "Where are we, James?" she asked, wearily.

"According to the map, somewhere near Avery Town," he said, glancing at her. "Jess, are you feeling all right? You don't look too good."

"I have a headache," she said flatly, "that's all. I need to rest; we've been walking all day."

He sat beside her and put his wrist to her forehead. "Jesse, I think you have a fever."

"I do not! I just have a headache!" she yelled, then winced. "I shouldn't have yelled; sorry."

"Guys," Meowth said, "Why don't we set up camp? Findin' Avery Town isn't dat important. I mean, we only tink dat Ash and dat Pikachu is dere, nothin' concrete." He hopped down into the foundation. "Dis place is purr-fect; look, it's even got a fiyaplace."

Jesse raised an eyebrow. "Oh yes, it's got a fireplace," she said mockingly, "it almost makes me want to set myself on fire. Just lovely."

James looked at her, taken aback. "Jesse, what's gotten into you!?"

She kicked a rock. "I don't know, and frankly, I don't care."

James frowned, and the cat pokemon gave her a quizzical look. "Look Jesse, just because you feel like doit don't mean dat you can treat us like doit."

She threw her hands up, "I am NOT going to put up with this! Just shut up!" She rose from her seat, "I'm going for a walk- _alone_. You two can have all the fun you want." With that, she turned on her heel and stalked into the woods.

She had to get away from everyone. All they did was bicker and complain constantly, and it got on her nerves day in and day out. They _knew_ she had a headache; why couldn't they ever shut up and leave her alone? Apparently she hadn't made it clear she wanted to be left alone; it wouldn't be clear to them if she had it written in big, flashing lights on her forehead.

She slowed her pace when she heard footsteps quickly following her. James. She whirled around, shouting, "You just don't get it, do you!?"

"What's wrong, Jess? I know you're sick and you probably have a fever, but why are you being so awful to us?"

"Because," she said hotly, avoiding eye contact by looking at the sky, "I'm sick and tired of walking around all day on little sleep with nothing but bickering, nothing to eat, and no friggen' privacy!"

"But Jesse," James said, his voice slightly wavering, "you know it's only until we capture that Pikachu- we'll have plenty to eat and we won't have to fight and…"

"Stop it, James! When we capture that Pikachu we'll probably EAT the damn thing!"

He glared at her, but she continued. "Ugh, don't you see how sick of all this crap I am?" She gestured to their surroundings. "I'm SO sick of _this_. I'm sick of Team Rocket, and I'm SICK of wearing the two of you!"

A gasp of betrayal escaped from James, and she immediately regretted her choice of words. James took a final last look in her eyes- a look that broke her heart to see- turned around, and was gone.

"James, wait! I didn't mean…"

But it was too late.

"Dammit Jesse!" she kicked a rock, "you know, why can't you ever control your temper?!"

She sat down for a while and felt a few drops of rain trickle onto her nose. "Great- just wonderful." Preparing to go back to camp and apologize for earlier, she stood up, but too suddenly, doubling over as a wave of nausea hit her. James was right- she was sick after all.

"Hey!" Someone sneered from behind her, "it's you!"

"What do you want, twerp?!" she shot back, slowly turning around.

The twerp, otherwise known as Ash Ketchum, narrowed his eyes. "I want you to get out of my way!" he pulled out a pokeball and twisted his cap backwards, "I choose you!"

"Oh great…" She felt for some pokeballs, and sighed when she realized they were at camp with everyone else.

The familiar green plant animal appeared. "Bulbasaur!" it said, proudly.

"Bulbasaur," Ash said, "use your vinewhip to pick Jesse up and toss her out of the way!"

Jesse's heart jumped into her throat. "What? I haven't done anything! I'll go, I don't care about your damn pokemon for once!"

Ash stared at her, incredulously. "Why should I trust you! This is just another one of your stupid plans! Do it, Bulbasaur!"

With lightning speed, Bulbasaur picked up Jesse's screaming, light form and swung back to toss her as easily and as far as he could.

As she flew through the air, she fumbled for the cord that would activate her invisible parachute which made "blasting off" that much more "comfortable". She pulled the cord-

-and nothing happened.

Time slowed; her heartbeat quickened. It wasn't the fall that would kill her, it was the impact; and Jesse only looked around the woods below her as she flew. She couldn't hear herself screaming, though sure that she was; there was no sound; not even a sense of time. Whether she had been airborne for minutes or mere seconds was unknown to her, and when the branches whipped past her face and tore at her clothes, she didn't even feel it.

Everything stopped.

All she was aware of was the quaking sensation in her stomach, causing her head to spin. Somewhere in her mind she knew she was vomiting, somewhere she knew she was tasting blood, but she couldn't remember if her eyes were open or shut.

Her world faded to black as the last rays of sunlight disappeared from the sky; she didn't know if she had passed out or died, and soon it no longer mattered.

James paced the campsite as Meowth started the fire. "I wouldn't worry about it, James," he said, "ya know Jesse gets like this around dat tyme of da month."

"Stop making light of it!" he shouted.

The cat angrily frowned. "Den why da hell ain't you out dere lookin' for 'er? Ya gettin' as nasty as she was!"

"Something's happened to her, I can feel it."

Meowth placed his paws on his hips, "Did ya even hear a ting I said?"

James wearily looked at him with eyes bordered with tears. Meowth gasped, "ya _love_ her, don't ya!"

He nodded, letting a sob escape with the admission, falling to his knees in a crumpled mess.

"My god," Meowth said, "no wonder you've been upset all afternoon!" He walked over to James and placed a reassuring paw on his heaving shoulder, "you know she'll be back."

"No, I don't!" he cried, "She would have been back before now if she was coming!"

"Unless you were right about somethin' happening to her."

James met Meowth's eye, but noticed a movement in the bushes behind him. Meowth noticed his tearful gaze was diverted, and followed his eyes to the darkness of the woods just beyond the campsite. "Who's there?" James called, "Show yourself!"

Stepping forward from the darkness was an extremely guilty-looking Ash Ketchum.

"Have you seen Jesse?" James pleaded, "Please tell me if you have…"

Ash looked at the ground. "I heard your conversation," he said slowly as he looked up. "I've seen her."

James rushed forward. "Where did you see her? What happened? Was she all right?"

Pikachu peeked out from behind Ash's leg, rather solemn looking.

"Dammit, answer me!"

Ash sighed. "I saw her in the woods just before sunset."

"Was she alright?"

"Why should I have cared? You two never care if I'm all right when you attack me!"

Pikachu tugged on his pantleg in a scolding manner. "Pika pi!"

Ash only looked at him as Pikachu looked at Meowth. "Pika, pikachu. Pi pika…pikachu."

Meowth gasped. "Pikachu says dat she looked fine when dey saw her, but if she's not okay right now it's because of them."

James' eyes widened with rage as he closed the distance between him and Ash, picking Ash up by the shirt of his collar and pinning him to a tree. "What the hell did you do to her?!"

Ash only stuttered, clearly frightened by the force James had never shown before, and he let him down.

"I'm s-sorry!" Ash cried. "I used Bulbasaur to get her out of my way!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Pika, pi pika pika pikachu."

"She…blasted off again," Meowth said, gravely.

James sat down on a rock and wiped his eyes. "She could be miles from here. What direction did she go?"

"East, I think," Ash said.

James released Wheezing from his pokeball. "Go find her, Wheezing."

In the short time Wheezing had been gone, a downpour had begun it's assault on the woods. Ash smirked. "Can you imagine the fit Jesse must be throwing about her hair getting ruined?"

James responded with a stony glare.

"Come on, James!" Ash said, "I think you're overreacting! She's just mad at you, she'll get over it!"

"No, I think something's happened. I can feel it in the pit of my stomach." He jumped up from the log he was sitting on as soon as the familiar silhouette of Wheezing appeared just above the trees. "Did you find her?"

The floating pokemon moved up and down in response, and Meowth ran over. As they started a small conversation, Pikachu jumped up, alarmed. "Pika?!"

James regarded Ash sternly, and Ash avoided eye-contact. Meowth turned to them with a grave look on his face. "She ain't doin' too well," he said, "Wheezing saw her by a lake."

"Was she all right? What was she doing?"

Meowth looked at the ground, "Get da map out. We gotta find her!" he said, then added under his breath, "It will be a miracle if she's still alive."

Thankfully, only Ash heard him.

James ran as he realized they were approaching Avery Pond, the lake Wheezing earlier indicated, and everyone quickly followed. In the dim light of the bright moon, he could see her motionless form on the ground. As he ran, he slid on the mud from the earlier downpour and landed beside Jesse's shivering form. Meowth tossed him a flashlight, and when he turned it on, he nearly felt sick himself.

Jesse, usually the epitome of beauty and perfection, now lay in a pool of mud, vomit, and blood; caked mud in her crimson hair and blood trailing from the corner of her mouth to her chin; her skin, moist and pale, had an almost greenish tint like the underside of a frog's belly. The only indicators of her fading life were the sounds of her own breathing, tangled into a loud wheeze and her shivering from either the raw, cold dampness of the ground she lay upon, or her rising fever.

James braced himself on the ground, trying to ward off the threatening nausea. She would die if she didn't get any help; she could die before she got it. Marshalling his thoughts into order, James fought to keep control. She needed him, as much as he wanted to, he couldn't break down now.

Meowth rushed forward, but when he saw Jesse's condition, he said nothing.

Having only the strength to whisper, James hoarsely said, "Get help…"

Meowth swallowed hard. "Avery Town is just beyond the other side of the lake."

"Hurry! We don't have much time!"

He patted James' shoulder, "She'll make it." Turning to Ash, he shouted, "throw all ya potions down here! We need 'em to hold her ova until we can get her to a hospital!"

Ash tossed his entire backpack to James as Meowth scrambled to re-join him. "I'm… sorry," he said.

"Apologies ain't gonna save her, so shut up because I don't tink James or I really wanna hear it, kid. Ya help us save her, we'll forgive ya."

Having administered the potions, James had no other choice but to wait until they took effect. Her skin had returned to a pale pink; her shivering had ceased, but the potions certainly didn't help the severe head injury, nor did it stop her struggle for air with every breath; the rhythmic wheezing which seemed to grow louder with each passing moment.

James didn't dare move her, for fear of injuring her further. Instead he resorted to bringing a bucket of the water from the nearby pond to her, to cleanse her hair and face. In the hour since Meowth and that insolent brat had left, Jesse did seem to improve. Whether she would live or not, James didn't know.

Without warning, a violent coughing spell overcame Jesse, interrupting the wheezing which seemed more pleasant in comparison. Between coughs, she gasped for air, almost as if she were drowning in her own phlegm. James shut his eyes as she convulsed, unable to stand the image of his beloved Jesse in so much pain. The longer his eyes were shut, the sounds of Jesse's coughing seemed to fade until there was nothing more but the pitter patter of rain falling against cloth.

James opened his eyes, immediately disoriented by the position he was in. Looking around, he recognized the canvas stretched above him; the warmth of the sleeping bag he was in. Images of Jesse near death floated back into memory and he sighed with relief.

Just a dream. Jesse was just in the next tent, probably having more pleasant dreams than he had; but he had to be sure. Crawling out of the tent into the light rain and standing up, he walked over to her tent and thankful to hear Meowth's rhythmic snoring rather than Jesse's dreadful wheezing of just a few moments before.

He gently nudged the Jesse's tent flap aside, and he could only stare at what was there.

Or what wasn't.

His heart leapt into his throat and he rushed over to Meowth's tent, rustling the poor feline from his sleepy state.

With a fury swipe across the face, a very pissed of and groggy Meowth said, "What da hell do YOU want?"

"Did Jesse ever come back?"

"Ain't she dere in her tent?"

"No."

The cat looked at him and rolled his eyes. "So? What's it to you? She was bein' a total bitch today, you know how she gets around dat tyme of da month."

James froze, overwhelmed by déjà vu. "What did you say?"

Meowth frowned angrily, "Will ya shut up and go back ta bed? You know as well as I do dat she'll be back by da mornin' like she always is."

James shrugged, doubt nagging him. "Did you happen to see the brat with the rat today?"

Meowth pulled his sleeping bag over his head. "What kind of a question is that? Jesus H. Christ, if I saw him I woulda friggen told ya!"

James sighed. "If you don't mind, I'm gonna go look for her. I have a terrible feeling something's happened to her."

"Fine. I'll be here, now leave me alone so I can sleep."

She awakened, her head pounding and her left hip aching tremendously. As she lifted her head off the saturated gound, a chill reverberated through her. Listening to the rain pour down around her, she half wondered where she was, worried about how she could get back to camp. With her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could see millions of raindrops falling on a large body of water in the night's dim light. Vaguely she remembered that there had been a pond on the map called "Avery Pond" and that Avery Town was nearby.

God, how far was she from James and Meowth? She stared up at the sky and blinked every time a raindrop stung her eyes. Too far; too far physically and too far emotionally, especially after what transpired earlier in the day.

But- James would understand. He always understood.

She frowned; if he understood he would have come looking for her by now. How long had she been gone? In any case, she had to get back and apologize. Shifting her weight onto her left hip, she cried out as pain shot through her leg and fell onto her back. Biting back tears as the pain quickly subsided back to the dull ache it had been when she awakened, her heart leapt into her throat as she realized just how vulnerable this injury made her.

Something howled in the distance. She was totally helpless- scared for the first time of what was sure to come if no one found her. Laying there upon the ground, all the possibilities of her future danced in her head; being torn apart by savage beasts, starving to death, succumbing to her current illness, getting a different illness and succumbing to that, and more unlikely things like becoming a victim of the Blair Witch, dinner for Hannibal Lector, practice for Michael Myers, or getting rescued by a knight in shining armor.

Her throat tightened as tears came to her eyes; she'd alienated her best friends with what would be remembered as her last words- she would die alone. After everything they had been through, the trio that was supposed to be "together forever" was torn apart in the end because of a simple headache- after all the near-disasters and brushes with death they'd had in the past. What the hell. And now she would never get to tell James how sorry she was, that she never meant and would never mean the things she said- they were only one step away from being a family, after all.

Faintly, her name seemed to carry on the wind to her eager ears, but she quickly dismissed it and began to weep.

A slow growling jarred Jesse from the troubled sleep she'd fallen into, and her breath caught in her throat. Whatever threatened her lay in the darkness just beyond her perception and it growling faded into the deafening thudding of her heart. "Somebody help me," she prayed as her breath became short and quick, with tears stinging her eyes. Again she tried to stand, but with a whimper fell to the ground, clawing at the mud in a desperate attempt to get to safety, wherever that was. She tried pushing herself along with her right foot, but hadn't gone far before she collapsed again.

Screaming in terror as the beast growling at her from the dark suddenly barked loudly, Jesse started to sob, acknowledging her total helplessness. Whatever it was was less than five feet away; footsteps crunching; branches breaking; something was coming- she was going to die and all she could do was scream again.

"Jesse! Jess, are you all right?"

She looked up, breathing hard and crumpled into a weeping heap upon the ground when she saw James' silhouette above her. Kneeling down beside her, with a blanket draped about his shoulders, he gathered her into his arms. "Shh, Jess, I'm here now. It's ok."

"I'm so sorry!" she sobbed, "I'm so sorry-forgive me…"

"As long as I know you're safe—I forgive you." He cradled her in his arms, trying to comfort her.

"I thought I was going to die…" she whispered.

"It's okay now," he murmured, trying to block the images of his dream that plagued him. He caressed her damp hair. "What happened? Do you hurt anywhere?"

"I…I," she stammered, "I ran up with Ash."

His blood ran cold. "He made you blast off again, didn't he."

She paused to wipe her eyes, "How did you know? My parachute didn't work right and I passed out when I landed; when I woke up my left hip hurt a lot."

James gingerly turned her onto her back. "Don't think I'm trying to get fresh," he said, "I just need to check to see if you broke anything."

"I know."

He placed his hands on her hip and applied pressure, which made her cry out until she bit her lip.

"I'm sorry, he mumbled, "but you know I need to do this." He continued to apply pressure in different places. "I think you've dislocated your hip, which is good."

She weakly laughed. "Good? What's that supposed to mean?"

He shrugged. "Good as in 'I can fix it' good."

"How do you know?" Jesse said, astonished, "You're not a doctor…"

"Well," he said, "remember when we worked in the hospital for a day, and a Hitmonchan dislocated his hip?"

She nodded.

"Well, a Hitmonchan's anatomy is similar to a human's," he continued. "Just trust me, Jess." He paused. "Um… I just need you to um…take your skirt off so I can do it."

"Fine," she sighed, "just anything to make the pain stop."

"You might want to bite down on it."

She shoved the material into her mouth and cringed when all she tasted was dirt and grass. Feeling the warmth of James' hands on the sides of her upper thigh, she relaxed a little, hopeful he knew what he was doing.

The pain started dully, then began to rapidly increase in intensity. She clamped down on the cloth, trying not to scream; her eyes watering instead. As the pain became unbearable, she moaned a little just before her head started to swim.

Suddenly, it was over- the pain having subsided as quickly as it had intensified. James reached up and pulled the cloth from her mouth and draped it across her legs. "It's going to be sore for a few days," he said.

When she tried to move it, only a dull pain resulted, which would only cause her to limp for a few days, if that. "How far are we from camp?"

"About fifteen minutes, but I don't think you should walk in your condition, not until tomorrow." He took the blanket from his shoulders and wrapped it around her. "We can share this, it's big enough."

Jesse frowned. Why was he being so nice? "I'm sorry I've been such a pain lately…" she whispered.

"I know."

"You're not angry with me?"

James said nothing.

"James?"

He took a deep breath. "I had a dream- a nightmare- about what happened."

She could tell he was desperately trying to control his shaky voice. "Go on, James, it's ok."

"I dreamt that Ash showed up at the campsite—he 'fessed up to making you blast off. The dream was almost prophetic; I found you here but…" his voice failed him, now only reduced to a whisper, "you were dying."

He sniffled, "If..if I hadn't had that dream I might never have come looking for you tonight, I knew deep down that you were in trouble…"

Jesse shut her eyes, trying to fight back tears, "I can understand why…" She met his tear-streaked gaze, and a strand of her hair fell into her face.

He brushed it away, "I'm not mad at you anymore though. I understand- I'll always understand."

A few tears rolled down her cheek, and she looked away. "Thank you, James."

He moved a little closer to her and lifted her chin up to face him again. "Don't cry, Jesse," he wiped the tears from her cheek, "It's not that bad is it? We found each other again…"

"Together forever?"

Their first kiss was his answer.

Jesse awakened just as the sun peeked over the horizon. A new day. The sun's reflection was scintillating on the water, and a sheer mist was beginning to rise. She looked to James, who was still sleeping. His arm was wrapped around her, and he had a slight smile on his face. Laying her head on his chest, she listened to his heartbeat; so very calming. So much had changed the previous night; when she had been laying in the mud, afraid she could never tell James how sorry she was, she knew she had wanted to tell him something else; how much she cared for him. But—was it love? After the kiss they shared last night—it had to be. It even seemed to be more than love, but what was that? Was there even a word to describe it? She turned to look at him, reaching up to run her fingers through his hair.

James stirred and opened his eyes. "Good morning Jess," he said, "how are you feeling?"

She smiled. "Content."

He raised an eyebrow, and smiled back before she kissed him again.

"James, let's leave Team Rocket."

Epilogue

"Meowth," Jesse said, gently scratching behind his ears, "James and I have decided to leave Team Rocket."

The cat pokemon jumped from his position and quickly turned around. "What?"

"You heard her, Meowth," James said, "We're leaving."

Becoming all watery-eyed, he cried, "You ain't leavin' witout me, are ya?"

"And leave our best friend?" James said, "Never!"

"Good," he smiled, "otherwise I'd hafta fury swipe ya."

Jesse pulled out a mini tux and started squeezing Meowth into it. "Hey!" he protested, "What da hell are ya doin'? I'm gonna look lyke John Travolta!"

"Get in," Jesse growled, "you need to be properly dressed."

"For what?" James winked at Jesse.

"A wedding."

The End

INSPIRATIONS AND BACKSTORY

"Crystal"  
Pokemon Fanfic

Note: The song lyrics to "Crystal" by Fleetwood Mac were originally included with this story, but to post here would violate the site's TOS so I did remove them.

STATS:

Rough Draft  
Started: March 27, 2000  
Finished: June 21, 2000  
Length: 8 written pages

Second Draft  
Started: January 25, 2003  
Finished: January 26, 2003

Posted at : January 26, 2003

No Sequels

Inspirations/ Explainations

This story, believe it or not, came from yet another dream of mine. On March 26, 2000, I dreamt about Jesse and James. I could see them lying on the ground, all muddy and soaked from being out in the rain. Jesse had been crying, and she was facing James. Slowly, they kissed, and as soon as they did, a song by Fleetwood Mac started to play. This was the basis for the story. The song was "Crystal" and, at the time, the only copy I had of the song was on a record from 1975! (This song is also in the movie "Practical Magic") Unfortunately, once I got to the part where Jesse and James kissed, I came upon yet another writer's block. In June 2000, I decided I would finish it, whether it killed me or not.

As a result, I DESPISED even looking at the rough draft, because it was garbage.

Suddenly, three years later as I surfed , I knew I had to post something. I didn't care what, because God knows that "How Much Can You See" is probably the biggest disappointment I've ever posted, although I've gotten good reviews for it. So I set out to type up "Crystal", and as my friend read through the second draft, he said it was a flat story with a weak plot. In all my years of being a dormant writer, that was a terrible habit I'd fallen into; writing stories with a weak plot and ALWAYS happy endings. So...this might have a happy ending...but that was only because I really wanted stay somewhere CLOSE to the original story.

The second draft GREATLY differs from the first. For example, Ash originally was only in the one scene where he swiftly relocates Jesse. Pikachu NEVER was in the rough draft. All the scenes after that, from James' nightmare, NEVER were in the original. I was really debating whether it was a dream or not, but because I wanted to write exactly what I had seen in MY own dream (now almost 3 years later), I had to make it a dream. The part where James awakens has also changed greatly, instead of what's there now, it was just like, a sentence about James waking up and saying "Something's happened to Jesse..." and in the next scene he's already found her.

The line that refers to the horror movies is a nod to all the horror movies that my good friend NICK (DrownedWorld000) made me watch over the summer/ Christmas break.

The strange beast that growls and barks at Jesse is actually based on something that happened to me when I was about 14 or 15. I had gotten in a fight with my exboyfriend or something and went outside to cry about it, and it was dark. While I was crying, something growled at me and I have NO idea what it was to this day, but all I know is that I RAN back into my house and cried a hell of a lot more.

If you haven't noticed, James never does explain how he found Jesse.

NOTES:

1. The old foundation in the beginning used to be in Preston, CT, but has been bulldozed in, which is a shame.

2. Avery Town is based on Foxwoods Casino (in this story).

3. Avery Pond is an actual pond in Preston, CT, from which you can see Foxwoods Casino. It looks like a huge city, if you've never seen it...stands out like a sore thumb.

THANKS:

Thanks to my parents, from whom I stole their Fleetwood Mac record in secret through the summer of 1999.

Thanks to Malnutrition Manda for helping me with the whole dislocation description!


End file.
